 Uzbek
Rugs: Uzbek Rug, Central Asia, late 19th century
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Guide to Uzbek Rugs &
Textiles
The Uzbek split from the Mongol
Golden Horde that conquered Russia in the
thirteenth century. When Genghis Khan died in
1227 his empire was divided up in the great
Quraltai of 1229. Jochi the eldest son was given
the land furthest from the hearth, but since he
had died his heirs led by Berke took from the
Caucasus north into Russia and they were known as
the Golden Horde. The Golden Horde or Kipchaks
were led by Batu and Berke. Their younger brother
Shayban, who gained acclaim in the Mongolian
invasion of Hungary" split off and
established the Shaybanid Horde. The distinctive
nature of the Uzbek was their conversion to Islam
earlier than the bulk of the Golden Horde. This
gave the Uzbek a point of distinction that
seperated them from other Mongols.
The next major event in Uzbek
history was when Uzbek Khan converted to Islam
and led the Shaybanid horde to Islam as well. The
distinctive nature of the Uzbek was their
conversion to Islam earlier than the bulk of the
Golden Horde. This gave the Uzbek a point of
distinction that seperated them from other
Mongols. This caused the Shaybanid to also be
called Uzbek and over time Uzbek supplanted the
older name. In the later part of the 15th century
the Shaybanid Horde moved into Transoxiana
(Turkestan also called Turan which is today
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.) By 1505 the Uzbeks
usurped the Chagati Turks or Timurid leadership
and took the land much of which they still
inhabit today.
As the Uzbek took control of
Turkestan, northern Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and
parts of Khorasan this did not mean that the
indigenous people of the area left or were
killed. Many of the subjugated peoples of that
area primarily Sart and Turkic were absorbed into
the Uzbek. Other peoples such as the Turkmen kept
their ethno-linguistic identity.
Linguistically Uzbek is a
Turkic language. Uzbek is linguistically close to
Turkmen (Eastern Azeri). For political purposes
Russian scholars worked to accentuate the
differences to divide the Turkic peoples for the
Soviet political purposes. Uzbeks weave both pile
and flatweaves. Much
of Uzbek rug production I feel is incorrectly
labeled as Turkmen rugs. We see that in many
rugs that prior to 1990 would have been cataloged
at auction as Ersari, Afghan, or Turkmen which
are not labeled Uxbek.
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